German industrial group Bosch will invest 520 million euros ($750 million) in a solar panel factory in Penang, a statement said.

Construction of the factory will begin this year and will employ 2,000 people once operational.

"With this investment, Bosch is moving further along the path of internationalisation it has already set for its photo-voltaic business," Bosch chairman Franz Fehrenbach said in the statement yesterday.

Once fully ramped up, the factory will supply enough solar panels to power 300,000 homes, the company said.

The statement said the investment was one of the largest building projects in the company's history.

- AFP